Quick and easy catalytic heater installation

For snowbirds and boondockers heading for the desert and on a restricted electrical supply, catalytic heaters provide a practical, economical, and efficient way to stay warm this winter. Forced air furnaces are not only inefficient (at about 60%) but consume great quantities of electricity and propane--and are annoyingly loud, especially when they kick on at 2:00 in the morning.

Catalytic heaters, on the other hand, operate at about 98% efficiency in a flameless chemical reaction of propane gas and oxygen, require no electricity, cost just pennies per hour to use, are silent, safe, and run right off your rig's propane tank. But because they use volatile propane gas, if you install a catalytic heater permanently in your motorhome, fiver, or trailer, it should be done by a licensed RV or gas technician (in some states it may even be illegal to do it yourself).

However, if you make the installation non-permanent, it is an easy and legal job. Here is what I did:

1. I purchased a tee fitting kit and installed the tee in my motorhome's propane line.
2. I attached a flexible rubber, gas-use approved hose that went from the tee into the empty space behind the drawers in the galley.
3. I then drilled a hole in the galley cabinet beneath the lowest drawer only large enough to feed the hose through.
4. On the end of this hose I put a female quick-connect fitting and on the heater itself, an 18-inch hose extension with the matching male fitting. They snap together when I hook up the heater, and disconnect by pulling the collar back on the male end.

When in use, I pull the hose out through the hole. The fitting on the end keeps the hose from disappearing into the cabinet, and only the short end fitting shows when shoved all the way in. I allowed about six feet of extra hose so when I pull the hose out of the hole I can position the heater where I want it--it will reach the dinette in one direction and the door to the bedroom in the other. When the need for the heater passes with the season, I disconnect it, remove the legs, and stow it in a cloth bag in an outside locker.

Though it may be tempting to purchase a large heater, if it is too large, you may not be able to run it after your rig heats up since even the lowest setting will make the interior too warm and you will be faced with having to turn it on and off in order to regulate the temperature to your comfort level. A final note of caution, since these heaters require oxygen, they can suck the oxygen out of the air in a confined, closed space, so to be safe, open a vent or window slightly according to the manufacturer's recommendation--it doesn't require much, a quarter of an inch should be plenty.

Check out my new eBook, Snowbird Guide to Camping and Boondocking in the Southwestern Deserts.

Alamo Lake is remote, but popular boondocking area

Do you like bright city lights, the roar of traffic along a freeway, and the rhythmic thumping of boom boxes? Do wide-open spaces with the sparkling of millions of stars overhead intimidate you? Well don't go to Alamo Lake. It's about as quiet and as far away from anything civilized as you can get by a paved road. But it is precisely because of this that snowbirds from the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Canada, and even as far away as Germany trek down the lonely road to camp here.

This is a pretty wild area out here. Lots of migratory birds use the lake and the river below the dam. Coyotes are regular visitors as are wild burros, who frequently come foraging right into the campground, and an occasional mountain lion.

The lake was formed when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Bill Williams River in 1968 for flood control. Along with the Santa Maria and Big Sandy Rivers that come together at the upper end of the lake, the rivers drain an area of over 4700 square miles. The heavy runoff during severe rainstorms has caused the lake to rise as much as three feet an hour, 20 vertical feet in a 24-hour period!

The big attraction here, in addition to the remoteness and the solitude, is the fishing. Recognized as one of the best warm water fisheries in the Southwest for bass, bluegill, and catfish, there are dozens of tournaments a year.

Take a hike down below the dam and you can see the water rushing out of a concrete spillway with a roar, restoring the Bill Williams River. Receiving water year round, the area is luxuriant and green, as lush a vegetation as can be found in the desert, attracting a variety of wildlife and birds. Deer, rabbit, and coyote tracks formed easily identifiable impressions in the mud along the banks.

With more than 200 campsites (full, partial, and no hook-up sites) they fill up only on the busiest week-ends and holidays, but even if you drive the 38 miles up here from Wenden (on AZ 60) and they are full, they will not turn anyone away. They will always find space for you.

How to find boondocking campsites

It's a good thing that there are no books showing where all the good boondocking campsites are. Make it too easy and they will all come. Look at the first quarter mile inside a BLM Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA). It's crowded. It's easy to get to. The best boondocking campsites are the hardest to find. Difficult. Eliminates the lazy, the ones that won't take the time or put out the effort to find a good, private, quiet spot. They go where the crowds are.

The simple answer--go where the crowds don't gather. The road less traveled. The dirt road leading off into the boonies. Look around the next bend, for a small grove of mesquites or desert willows, for the campsite you can't see. The longer you plan on staying, the better your efforts will pay off. Here's how to do it in the desert, since we're entering snowbird season.

• Slow down. You won't find turnoffs if you fly by at freeway speeds.
• If you see a promising turn off ahead, pull off to the side to allow traffic to get by, and check out its prospects.
• A good clue is if the road goes behind a hill, turns up an arroyo, or disappears into a clump of trees.
• Walk in a short ways (a good way to stretch your legs after sitting too long) to check the road surface for soft sandy spots or muffler-gouging rocks.
• Look for campsites that have a "desert pavement" surface, one that is covered with a naturally occurring surface that appears like dark tiles of varying sizes. They provide a firm surface.
• Try to find a campsite a half mile or more off the main road to avoid road traffic noise and for privacy.
• Pick a site that has been camped in before so as not to destroy plants and dormant wildflowers.
• Unhitch and drive in your tow or toad to look for the perfect campsite. Look for obstructions, rocks, potholes, tight bends, etc. that would hinder your rig coming in. As you gain experience you will be able to judge whether the road surface is solid and the area open enough that you feel comfortable driving in before unhitching.
• Once you find acceptable campsites, be sure to list them in your boondocking log book, in your favorite campground guide, or with GPS coordinates so that you can easily locate it the next time.

Taking these extra efforts to go beyond choosing the easiest to get to campsite will open up your opportunities, provide many more camping options, and give you a lot more privacy, solitude, and quiet.

Check out my eBooks: BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America's Public Lands, and Snowbird Guide to Boondocking in the Southwestern Deserts.

BLM cuts back boondocking area at Craggy Wash

In my post on October 13 on boondocking at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, I received the following comment by "Anonomous."

"They've closed a lot of the boondocking in craggy wash this year. Have to go way back to the 'meadow' now. Do they really want us boondocking rvers using OUR public lands and is it resort/campground pressure or the BLM ? As we travel south we've seen smaller areas to use. Plamosa road area in Quartzsite is downsized also. Don't think they'll force people into their resorts and campgrounds, we'll just pass the town by."

I emailed the BLM and received the following response from Recreation Technician, Paul Hoyt:
"In reply to your questions about Craggy Wash, yes there was a change to the camping there however it is minor.The authorized camping starts one mile from Highway 95 or approx .5 mile from the start of BLM property going into the campsite. This is in compliance with BLM Recreation Management Program dtd 2007 along with the Highway 95 Beautification Program . There is another change and it will be in the Standard Wash area south from Lake Havasu City to the Bill Williams River and that change is there will be no camping within the first 1/2 mile of Highway 95. These are the only changes from the Lake Havasu Field Office."

If any of you are down there or expect to arrive soon, I would appreciate a first hand update.

The Boondocker's Lifestyle: Do you fit?

Boondocking is a lifestyle. It is not something you decide to do and ten minutes later you can call yourself a boondocker. First--the semantics. When traveling, boondocking is not spending the night in a Walmart or Cracker Barrel parking lot, or staying in a no hookup state park because a full hookup RV resort was not nearby. That is dry-camping, meaning camping without hook-ups--any hookups--no water, electricity, or sewer.

Boondocks comes from the Tagalog bundok, meaning out away from civilization, in the boonies, which a Walmart parking is definitely not. As an RVer is makes sense to become expert in both dry-camping and boondocking. Finding acceptable places to spend the night--and feeling safe as well as comfortable--without water, power, or sewer appendages while on the road can save a bunch of money in campground fees. It makes even more sense if you arrive in late afternoon and plan to leave early in the morning and just want to have dinner, a short walk, a good night's sleep, and easy access back to your route in the morning.

But honing the dry-camping skills does not a boondocker make. The skills are basically the same, but these are the differences:

• Finding boondocking campsites requires getting off the highway. It takes time, effort, correctly reading the landscape, looking ahead and foretelling hazards, and a knowledge of your rig and of your abilities.
• It means spending more than just one night.
• Stretching out the length of your stay requires extra awareness of your usage and extra effort at conserving your resources.
• A successful and efficient boondocker leaves little to chance, knows what kind of environment he is looking for, and knows how and where to look for it.
• A boondocker is environmentally responsible, does not leave trash behind--whether it's his/hers or not, and takes extra precautions to not harm plant life or bird and animal habitats around his campsite.

Boondocking, and calling yourself a boondocker, requires more than just putting those three syllables together in the right order. It requires common sense, environmental responsibility, practicing conservation, and a love and respect of nature, birds, wildlife, and the outdoors.

Next we will look at some of the skills needed in finding the perfect boondocking campsite.To learn more, take a look at my eBooks: BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America's Public Lands, and Snowbird Guide to Boondocking in the Southwestern Deserts.

The true legend of Burro Schmidt

William Henry Schmidt, born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island in 1871, possessed none of the qualifications to become a high desert prospector, but having a family history of tuberculosis, he came west.

By 1906 he had filed some claims in the Copper Mountains. He had one problem: how to transport the ore from his claims to the distant smelter. It required building miles of roads around the mountain, or . . .

What started as an idea, to carve a tunnel right through the mountain to the Borax road that connected Death Valley with the town of Mojave, grew into a life-long obsession.

Working with only a hand drill and a four-pound hammer Schmidt hacked away at the solid granite mountain, carving out a five-foot wide and seven-foot tall shaft. With only Jack and Jenny, two faithful burros and the source of his nickname, they transported tons of debris from his diggings.

When he was only half way through the mountain the railroad was completed through the valley along with convenient access roads. The purpose of his tunnel had become obsolete.

But Burro kept digging, and digging. Had this obsession pushed him to the brink of sanity? Or, as the rumor spread, had he discovered the Crystal Room, a lost pocket of rich gold ore? Burro continued working on his shaft--1600 feet straight through the mountain--where he made an abrupt right turn and--after 38 years--punched through the other side. His dedication gained him a moment of glory--an article in Time magazine and an acknowledgment in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. He died in January 1954 at the age of 83.

In his lifetime he sold only 20 tons of ore valued at $60 a ton--$1200 for the incredible amount of earth he removed from the tunnel. Yet when he died, $2700 was found hidden beneath a windowsill in his cabin and caches of gold nuggets have turned up around his mine and cabin.

Access to the tunnel is by dirt roads either from Hart’s Place on Route Six or through Last Chance Canyon from Cantil. Primitive camping is available at nearby Red Rock Canyon State Park, twenty-five miles north of Mojave on Route 14, or boondocking in the open Mojave Desert. Directions and a map to the tunnel are available from a ranger or from the park’s visitor center.

Check out my eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America's Public Lands, for the complete guide to boondocking.

Historic and quirky: Tecopa Hot Springs

If you are considering a short stopover on your way from the cold northern states or Canada to your winter desert hangout, try Tecopa Hot Springs south of Death Valley National Park and 50 miles north of Baker on California Route 127.

Named for Chief Tecopa of the Paiute Tribe, the springs have been a major crossroads of cattle rustlers, gunslingers, gamblers, cowpokes on cattle drives, missionaries, and ordinary settlers on the Old Spanish Trail (photo above left) throughout the history of the Wild West.Now mostly a sparsely settled ghost town (sparse on living people, not ghosts) the town and springs have seen the boomtown growth of mining interests and the bust of bad times. The healing hot mineral baths of the springs was proclaimed by Chief Tecopa to be free for all, with the springs bathing pools enclosed in buildings (for privacy concerns, there are separate women's and men's baths, no bathing costumes allowed). Today, however there is a small fee collected to help with maintenance and cleaning.

The area's colorful history is evident in building remains along the Old Spanish Trail, the now abandoned talc and gypsum mines, and the nearby China Ranch Date Farm (photo left) now a family run date growing operation that welcomes visitors--where you can re-supply your date stores and sample superb, fresh out-of-the-oven date-and-nut bread set in a verdant oasis near the Amargosa River smack in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It's so hot here in mid-summer that the date pickers work with huge lamps in the middle of the night.

Though there is a campground with hook-ups in the middle of town (what there is of it) conveniently across the street from the hot springs, there is a free 14-day short term BLM designated camping area three miles north of town. The area's historic past and the current quirky combination of residents and snowbirds alone makes Tecopa a worthwhile stopover.

Check out my new eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America's Public Lands, the RVers complete guide to boondocking.

A thorn in the side

When boondocking in the desert, as many of you will be soon--some for the first time--you need to take extra caution since you are not parked on a nice paved surface or grassy lawn as you would be if you were in an RV resort. There are hazards lurking out there in the desert boonies. But not to fret. It is mostly a matter of plugging these hazards into your subconscious, so that avoiding them becomes second nature--an attribute of a true desert rat.

Look out for these thorny desert hazards when you are out exploring, especially if you go off trail.

• Bigalow (opuntia bigalovii) cholla cacti, better known as jumping cactus, can grow to five feet with green branches on top of a fuzzy looking brown trunk. It is this fuzzy appearance that gives it its other common name, Teddy Bear Cactus, which is anything but fuzzy since the brown trunk is tightly packed mass of spines. Chain fruit cholla is also sometimes called a jumping cholla. The name comes from its characteristic of having segments, covered with thorns, that detach easily from the mother plant when brushed against by coyotes, javalinas, or the soft pink flesh of homo sapiens. The spines have a fish-hook curve to the end and are a bugger to get out, sometimes requiring breaking the thorns off and pushing them all the way through the skin or clothing and out the other side. You can walk through a large bigalow garden in Joshua Tree NP.

• Catclaw (acacia greggii), a bushy plant (photo left) also known as devil's claw and wait-a-minute bush, is also characterized by its hooked thorns that grab the unsuspecting passerby and won't let go, who must then stop ("wait a minute") to carefully remove the thorns to avoid injury or shredding clothing. Catclaw thrives in washes and canyons to 6,000 feet along with creosote bush.

• Mesquite (varieties of prosopis) trees can reach over 20 feet tall but usually are large shrubs. The thorns (photo below) are strong--they can penetrate a sneaker or tire--and up to three inches long. Very hardy and will grow in the harshest of terrain. Mesquite often took over desert savanna grasslands when grazed too heavily by cattle, squeezing out the native grasses.

These are but three of the thorny desert hazards, but once you

recognize them you can give them a wide berth. But remember, most cacti--and several shrubs--have thorns, so before you lean back on a plant to rest--take a close look.

For the complete guide to boondocking, check out my eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America's Public Lands.

Water, water everywhere: The Ancient Mariner wasn't in the desert

By Bob Difley

The southwestern deserts have spectacular sunsets nearly every night, abundant long views, clear air, lots of open space, warm days, refreshingly cool good-for-sleeping nights, a bonanza of wildflowers in the Spring--but little water. When the summer cloudbursts come, the deluge is so fast that little soaks in, running off through normally dry washes, sometimes causing flash floods. the winter light rains soak in, just enough to trigger the wildflowers, but not enough to fill reservoirs or RVers water tanks.

Like the cacti that store water in their fleshy pulp and dispense it as needed, creosote that sends roots out far from the main plant to gather all the moisture that falls within its root area, and birds and animals the know where to find all the tinajas (rock catchments that hold pools of rain water--see photo below), desert boondockers also need to learn how to conserve their water supplies, a Darwinian adaptation to the dry desert climate that is necessary for survival. The following tips will help you get the most out of your water supply:

• Fill Jerry jugs or collapsible bladders to pour or pump into your water tank as your main supply diminishes. Carry in your tow vehicle and fill when near a water source.
• When showering or washing hands, turn water on to wet yourself. Turn off and soap. Turn
• on to rinse.
• Save shower water into a plastic bucket or dishpan while waiting for it to heat up and use for rinsing dishes or flushing toilet.
• Wipe food bits off dishes with paper towel before washing to keep dishwater clean. Wash dishes in dishpan, not under running water. Rinse in separate dishpan of clean water. Use rinse water to flush toilet or water thirsty plants.
• Use low flow shower and faucet nozzles. Turn faucets only half on when using.

Conservation of water resources will also extend your stay before you need to pack up and move to a water filling station. If you can squeeze another day or two before you run out, multiplied by a winter of boondocking, you will spend a lot more time enjoying the desert.

For a complete guide to boondocking, see my eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America's Public Lands on right side of this page.